value-driven care
a federally backed movement to improve quality and reduce costs in U.S. health care by increasing system transparency and encouraging consumer choice. Such an emphasis on quality contrasts with the current volume-driven model of care in which consumers are passive recipients of treatments and providers are reimbursed for the number of cases they handle, regardless of patient outcome or the standard of services rendered. The central premise underlying value-driven care is that informed consumers are active and discriminating decision makers who will examine their available service options and choose those that will be the most beneficial and cost effective, and that this in turn will foster competition among providers to provide better services at reduced costs (e.g., by eliminating waste, improving cooperation and coordination among providers, preventing foreseeable patient complications, etc.). For example, if a person needing an operation is able to review readily
available statistics on outcome, price, and so forth, he or she will likely avoid choosing hospitals, procedures, or medical professionals having poor success rates or costing too much. According to the U.S. government, however, the success of value-driven care requires not only the consistent measurement and public reporting of provider quality and cost information, but also the nationwide adoption of standardized, interoperable health information technology and the use of incentives that motivate all parties within the system—payors, patients, providers, and health care facilities—to achieve better care for less money.